1987–88 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1987–88 campaign is statistically Town's worst ever season in their league history. Town won only 6 league games all season, had their heaviest ever defeat in their history, conceded 100 league goals in the season and finished 19 points adrift of safety and even 14 points behind 2nd-bottom team Reading. Both of the two managers during the season, Steve Smith and Malcolm Macdonald failed miserably and Macdonald is regarded as one of the worst managers in Town's history.

Huddersfield Town
1987–88 season
Chairman Roger B. Fielding
Keith Longbottom
Manager Steve Smith (until 6 October 1987)
Malcolm Macdonald (from 12 October 1987 until 4 May 1988)
Barclays League Second Division23rd (relegated)
FA CupThird round
(knocked out by Manchester City)
Littlewoods Challenge CupFirst round
(knocked out by Rotherham United)
Simod CupFirst round
(knocked out by Leicester City)
Top goalscorerLeague: Duncan Shearer (10)
All: Duncan Shearer (16)
Highest home attendance21,510 vs Manchester City (25 January 1988)
Lowest home attendance2,794 vs AFC Bournemouth (30 April 1988)
Biggest win2–0 vs AFC Bournemouth (21 November 1987)
Biggest defeat1–10 vs Manchester City (7 November 1987)

Squad at the start of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK  ENG Brian Cox
-- GK  ENG Lee Martin
-- DF  WAL Ian Bray
-- DF  ENG Malcolm Brown
-- DF  ENG David Burke
-- DF  SCO Willie McStay
-- DF  ENG Graham Mitchell
-- DF  ENG Simon Trevitt
-- DF  ENG Gordon Tucker
-- DF  ENG Simon Webster
-- MF  ENG Ian Banks
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF  ENG Mark Barham
-- MF  ENG Junior Bent
-- MF  ENG David Cowling
-- MF  ENG Paul France
-- MF  ENG Carl Madrick
-- MF  ENG Andy May
-- MF  ENG Julian Winter
-- FW  ENG Graham Cooper
-- FW  ENG David Cork
-- FW  SCO Duncan Shearer
-- FW  ENG Peter Ward

Review

The start of the season was at the time, the worst in Town's history. The team lost most of their early games and Steve Smith, a hero during his playing days at Leeds Road, was shown the door on 6 October, after the 2–0 defeat at Birmingham City. Malcolm Macdonald replaced Smith a week later, but it wasn't until the end of the month that Town registered their first win, a 2–1 victory at the end-of-season champions Millwall.

However, a week later, Town recorded their biggest ever loss in their history, going down 10–1 against Manchester City at Maine Road. After that embarrassment, Town recovered slightly going on a run of only 1 defeat in 6 matches. However, this proved to be nothing more than a false dawn and Town's chances of survival would shortly become non-existent.

Following their 2–1 win over Plymouth Argyle on 12 December, Town would only win 2 matches for the remaining 5 months of the season, they were a 1–0 win at Bradford City and amazingly a 1–0 win against a Manchester City side, who 4 months earlier beat them 10–1. They were officially relegated with four games remaining, after a 2-2 draw at home to near neighbours Oldham Athletic, and Town ended up with only 28 points, finishing 14 points behind Reading in 23rd place and a further 5 behind the safety zone of 21st placed West Bromwich Albion. Macdonald was sacked just before the last game of the season against Sheffield United. Eoin Hand would replace Macdonald for the new season in the Third Division.

Squad at the end of the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK  ENG Brian Cox
-- GK  ENG Lee Martin
-- DF  WAL Ian Bray
-- DF  ENG Malcolm Brown
-- DF  ENG Vince Chapman
-- DF  ENG Chris Hutchings
-- DF  ENG Graham Mitchell
-- DF  ENG Malcolm Shotton
-- DF  ENG Simon Trevitt
-- DF  ENG Gordon Tucker
-- MF  ENG Ian Banks
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF  ENG Mark Barham
-- MF  ENG Junior Bent
-- MF  ENG Paul France
-- MF  ENG Carl Madrick
-- MF  ENG Andy May
-- MF  ENG Julian Winter
-- FW  ENG Graham Cooper
-- FW  ENG David Cork
-- FW  ENG Paul Kirkham
-- FW  SCO Duncan Shearer
-- FW  ENG Peter Ward

Results

Division Two

Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance Position
15 August 1987 Crystal Palace H 2–2 Trevitt, Shearer 6,132 6th
22 August 1987 Plymouth Argyle A 1–6 Ward 8,811 21st
29 August 1987 Shrewsbury Town H 0–0 4,478 20th
31 August 1987 Oldham Athletic A 2–3 Shearer, Banks 7,410 21st
12 September 1987 Blackburn Rovers A 2–2 May, Cooper 7,109 23rd
15 September 1987 Leeds United H 0–0 9,085 22nd
19 September 1987 Aston Villa H 0–1 6,884 23rd
26 September 1987 Stoke City A 1–1 Cooper 8,665 23rd
29 September 1987 Bradford City H 1–2 Shearer 11,671 23rd
3 October 1987 Birmingham City A 0–2 6,282 23rd
10 October 1987 Middlesbrough H 1–4 Shearer 6,169 23rd
17 October 1987 Reading A 2–3 Shearer (2) 4,678 23rd
20 October 1987 Hull City H 0–2 8,033 23rd
24 October 1987 West Bromwich Albion A 2–3 Cork, Shearer 8,450 23rd
31 October 1987 Millwall H 2–1 Banks, Cork 5,504 23rd
3 November 1987 Ipswich Town A 0–3 9,984 23rd
7 November 1987 Manchester City A 1–10 May (pen) 19,583 23rd
14 November 1987 Barnsley H 2–2 Ward, Banks 8,629 23rd
21 November 1987 Bournemouth A 2–0 Cork, Banks 6,419 23rd
28 November 1987 Leicester City H 1–0 Cooper 6,704 22nd
1 December 1987 Swindon Town A 1–4 Cooper 6,963 22nd
5 December 1987 Sheffield United A 2–2 Banks, Cooper 9,269 22nd
12 December 1987 Plymouth Argyle H 2–1 Cork (2) 5,747 21st
19 December 1987 Leeds United A 0–3 20,111 21st
26 December 1987 Stoke City H 0–3 9,500 21st
28 December 1987 Aston Villa A 1–1 Shearer 20,948 21st
1 January 1988 Shrewsbury Town A 1–3 Cork 5,448 23rd
2 January 1988 Blackburn Rovers H 1–2 May (pen) 10,735 23rd
16 January 1988 Crystal Palace A 1–2 Shearer 9,013 23rd
13 February 1988 Swindon Town H 0–3 5,458 23rd
27 February 1988 Birmingham City H 2–2 Banks, Barham 5,441 23rd
1 March 1988 Bradford City A 1–0 Banks 12,782 23rd
5 March 1988 Reading H 0–2 6,094 23rd
12 March 1988 Middlesbrough A 0–2 13,866 23rd
19 March 1988 Millwall A 1–4 Mitchell 6,181 23rd
26 March 1988 West Bromwich Albion H 1–3 Cork 4,503 23rd
2 April 1988 Manchester City H 1–0 Madrick 7,835 23rd
4 April 1988 Barnsley A 0–1 7,950 23rd
8 April 1988 Ipswich Town H 1–2 Banks 4,023 23rd
19 April 1988 Oldham Athletic H 2–2 Shearer, Banks 5,547 23rd
23 April 1988 Hull City A 0–4 5,221 23rd
30 April 1988 Bournemouth H 1–2 Cork 2,794 23rd
2 May 1988 Leicester City A 0–3 9,803 23rd
7 May 1988 Sheffield United H 0–2 8,644 23rd

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
9 January 1988 Round 3 Manchester City H 2–2 Shearer (2) 18,102
12 January 1988 Round 3 Replay Manchester City A 0–0 24,565
25 January 1988 Round 3 2nd Replay Manchester City H 0–3 21,510

Littlewoods Challenge Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
18 August 1987 Round 1 1st Leg Rotherham United A 4–4 Shearer (3), Barham 3,353
25 August 1987 Round 1 2nd Leg Rotherham United H 1–3 Shearer 4,528
  • Huddersfield lost 7–5 on aggregate.

Simod Cup

Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
10 November 1987 Round 1 Leicester City A 0–1 3,440

Appearances and goals

NameNationPositionLeague AppsLeague GoalsFA Cup AppsFA Cup GoalsLeague Cup AppsLeague Cup GoalsFLT AppsFLT GoalsTotal AppsTotal Goals
Ian Banks EnglandMF419202010469
Mark Barham EnglandMF24 (2)1001 (1)11026 (3)2
Junior Bent EnglandMF5 (2)00 (1)000005 (3)0
Ian Bray WalesDF29 (1)030001033 (1)0
Malcolm Brown EnglandDF23 (2)020100026 (2)0
David Burke EnglandDF100002000120
Vince Chapman EnglandDF4 (2)00000004 (2)0
Graham Cooper EnglandFW20 (5)50 (2)00 (1)00020 (8)5
David Cork EnglandFW368302010428
David Cowling EnglandMF5 (1)00010006 (1)0
Brian Cox EnglandGK200302000250
Paul France EnglandDF5 (3)03000008 (3)0
Chris Hutchings EnglandDF230000000230
Paul Kirkham EnglandFW0 (1)00000000 (1)0
Carl Madrick EnglandFW3 (5)10000003 (5)1
Lee Martin EnglandGK180000010190
Andy May EnglandMF27 (1)330201033 (1)3
Seamus McDonagh Republic of IrelandGK6000000060
Willie McStay ScotlandDF4 (4)00000105 (4)0
Graham Mitchell EnglandDF28 (1)130000031 (1)1
Duncan Shearer ScotlandFW31 (2)1032241037 (2)16
Malcolm Shotton EnglandDF140000000140
Simon Trevitt EnglandDF31 (6)130200036 (6)1
Gordon Tucker EnglandDF19 (4)00 (1)0200 (1)021 (6)0
Steve Walford EnglandDF120000010130
Peter Ward EnglandFW19 (7)220101023 (7)2
Simon Webster EnglandDF220302010280
Julian Winter EnglandMF5 (2)000000 (1)05 (3)0
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